Originally released more than two decades ago, JavaScript is a dynamic, untyped general-purpose programming language that’s used extensively in web and app development. While it offers many benefits in terms of functionality, it also has some drawbacks. Among the biggest concerns when using JavaScript is speed. The programming language is known for being slow and sluggish. But Google is hoping to counter this problem with the release of its new Closure Compiler tool.

Google’s Closure Compiler tool is intended to improve the consumption of mobile memory in the V8 JavaScript engine. Of course, this isn’t the first Closure Compiler released by the search engine giant. Google released the first-generation Closure Compiler in 2009. What makes this one different, however, is that it runs under the NodeJS, featuring built-in support for certain build tools.

The Closure Compiler is essentially a tool that transpiles, checks type, and optimizes JavaScript code. When executed, it compiled JavaScript code into a smaller size, which should subsequently boost performance. Developers are bound to make typos and mistakes when creating JavaScript code — and that’s okay. With tools like Google’s Closure Compiler, you can identify and fix these errors early, before they snowball into bigger problems later down the road.

But that’s not all the Closure Compiler is capable of doing. It also assists developers in writing better code by checking for syntax errors and type uses. If the tool discovers an error, it displays a warning to the user.

“The Closure Compiler is a tool for making JavaScript download and run faster. Instead of compiling from a source language to machine code, it compiles from JavaScript to better JavaScript. It parses your JavaScript, analyzes it, removes dead code and rewrites and minimizes what’s left. It also checks syntax, variable references, and types, and warns about common JavaScript pitfalls,” explained Google.

As explained on Google’s Developer website, the Closure Compiler can be used in one of three ways: as an open-source Java application that’s executed from a command line; a simple web application; or a RESTful API.

If you’re interested in using Google’s Closure Compiler tool, head over to https://developers.google.com/closure/compiler/docs/gettingstarted_ui to learn more about how it works. Google has a helpful tutorial that walks through the process. So regardless of your experience level, you should have little-to-no problem using Google’s Closure Compiler tool.